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The use of electronic cigarettes as a replacement for traditional smoking is still considered by many to be something of a modern trend. However, there is much more behind this supposed trend. From 2012 to 2018, vapers in the UK increased from 700,000 to 2.8 million, the numbers are still growing under the age of TPD. We estimate that there are at least 30.8 million vapers in the world. Check out here for more information.
As a professional disposable vape manufactuer, we love the history of our industry. We have a brief introduction to the history of e-cigarettes before. Today we will have a deeper look at why the first e-cigarettes failed.
The first steps of the e-cigarette
The history of the e-cigarette began in 1963 when the inventor Herbert A. Gilbert filed his patent for the world’s first electronic cigarette with the U.S. Patent Office filed. In 1965 he was officially granted the patent. The device he developed is already reminiscent of today’s tube mods and should contain liquid. Even though Gilbert developed a future-oriented device, his e-cigarette was unfortunately never produced. A small drop of bitterness: Despite his unsuccessful product, Gilbert is known as the forefather of e-cigarettes and has not been forgotten.
Although Gilbert’s patent was never implemented, his development was followed by numerous imitators whose devices were just as unsuccessful. One of the most promising new developments came at the end of the 1970s when the physician Norman Jacobson and the computer specialist Phil Ray tried to bring a mass-market version of the electronic cigarette onto the market. As with modern devices, their vaporizer aimed to avoid the acrid smell of cigarettes by using liquids containing nicotine. Even if Jacobson and Ray failed to market their e-cigarette, the two at least coined the term vape.
Why did the first e-cigarettes fail?
When asked why the first e-cigarettes failed, rumors keep coming up, especially in the USA, that the tobacco lobby is behind it. The reason for this is said to have been the fear of a drop in sales. Sounds like a conspiracy theory? A small digression: The oil company Exxon Mobil has been lobbying and campaigning to deny climate change since 1960 – also out of fear of collapsing profits. But let’s not get too political. Whether the tobacco lobby is really behind it cannot be proven.
Today it isn’t easy to understand why exactly the developers of the first e-cigarettes were unable to celebrate any successes with their devices. However, an important factor was the general lack of awareness of the dangerous side effects of tobacco use. People didn’t see the need to give up cigarettes.
How a Chinese pharmacologist made the breakthrough
The development of the modern e-cigarette began with a heavy blow of fate: in 2001, the father of the Chinese pharmacologist Hon Link died of lung cancer. Like Link himself, his father was a heavy smoker. As a result, Link quit smoking but quickly began searching for a healthier alternative to the deadly coffin nails.
While researching the subject, Link came across Herbert A. Gilbert’s patent. Link quickly developed the basic idea of the device, and in 2004, 41 years after Gilbert filed his patent, Link launched his first e-cigarette.
Success was not long in coming. Link owes this above all to clever marketing because at the time of the release of his device, awareness of the harmfulness of cigarettes increased worldwide. Link advertised his e-cigarette as a healthy alternative to smelly and sickening cigarettes. From the Middle Kingdom, Hon Link’s invention spread throughout the world.
What is worth waiting for
Although the road to the development of Hon Link was long, the history of the e-cigarette has only just begun compared to the tobacco consumption that has existed for a long time. Because even if there are already numerous different types of e-cigarettes, there are always great and exciting new developments on the market.
